Johnson living dream as pro bodybuilder

Mike Johnson says he spends 3 1⁄ hours a day, six days a week training in the gym.

Thirteen years ago, Mike Johnson was in his English class, making fun of his friend’s bodybuilding magazine with a “big guy in his underwear on the front."

He didn’t know what bodybuilding was about. His friend told him to take the magazine home and check it out.

Johnson of Upper Tantallon started training at the gym the very next day.

“That magazine was all about eating clean and training," he said. “The way the guys looked, that was appealing."

Johnson, 30, wanted to better himself and get bigger.

His first time on stage was at the Palace nightclub.

“They used to have a thing called the (hard body contest) every Sunday night, so I did that as a warm-up just to try to get the nerves out.

“The thought of going out there in my underwear was a hard thing to get over."

His knees were shaking, but he made it through without falling over. Johnson went on to win first place in the junior division of the Atlantic bodybuilding championships.

Since that first competition, he’s com­peted in 10 bodybuilding shows, winning first place in all but three. The most re­cent, the Canadian national bodybuilding championships in October, was the big one. It gave him the title of Mr. Canada and won him his pro card.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn, but the first time I ever competed at nationals, I won my pro card; I don’t know if any­one’s ever done that," Johnson said.

“I never thought it would happen. I was just hoping to place top five. My family came up from Nova Scotia to see me and I just wanted to make it worth their trip."

Surpassing his hopes by so much was “a surreal feeling." He compares it to a young hockey player wanting to play in the NHL and finally getting there.

“To me, it was the same thing," he said.

“This is something I always wanted."

Now living in Montreal, he’s back in town today to guest pose at the Nova Sco­tia amateur bodybuilding provincial championships.

“I went on a crash diet the past couple of weeks so I don’t embarrass myself up there."

Before a show, Johnson said, he’s eating six meals a day, made up of protein (red meat, fish, chicken), fats (olive oil, omega-3s and 6s), and a small amount of carbs (rice, potatoes and green vegetables; no pasta or bread).

He trains 3½ hours a day, six days a week, in the gym — two hours of weight training, 40 minutes of cardio, then some stretching.

But the hardest part of bodybuilding is balancing his work with his life, he said.

Johnson calls bodybuilding a selfish sport, because it’s all about you.

Take Thanksgiving.

“My mother-in-law worked hard, made dinner, thinking of me the whole time, trying to make it healthy, and then I show up there and I can’t eat anything because I have to know how everything’s prepared, the right amount of salt, how much fat’s in it.

“That’s what’s hard — to see the look on their face when I tell them I can’t eat their meal that they worked all day on."

Johnson said dedication, discipline and sacrifice are necessary elements of body­building, and the skills he develops along the way are the most valuable part of the experience.